Down the road versuri

Versuri Maria Ch. – Down the road lyrics

In my dark, olive-green mountain village,
where farmers are kings,
where dogs still live at the end of
chains and barrels,
where Easter means risking a limb
and Saints’ days bring pagan animal sacrifice,
Google Maps is far behind.

There, in a street view image
from December 2011,
I find the house where I grew up.

The windows glow orange
with Christmas stickers clinging to the glass.
Christmas is almost here.

I am fifteen.
Haven’t met my first boyfriend yet.
I spend my evenings collecting friends
through screens, while the ones beside me
have already betrayed me.
I am probably venting online about
stress over school
or my lack of fashion sense.
My remaining grandpa is still alive,
possibly smoking in his bedroom.
Grandma is running the grocery store.

The road cutting through the market
is depicted in an updated image from 2023.
Yet, down the road, it is still 2011.

And I know that, if I could drag the cursor
just a little farther – past the rusted gate,
I would find your amber eyes
silently greeting every passer by,
your white paws softly planted against the door,
your wet nose testing the wind
for intruders or a Sunday roast.

Here, you are still my baby.
But there, you are still alive.
Five years old, amazing as ever.

So come to the door,
and let mama see you
once more.